


Ghosts

by thecat_13145



Category: Numb3rs
Genre: Early Work, Ghosts, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-16
Updated: 2014-11-16
Packaged: 2018-02-25 15:43:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 667
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2627204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thecat_13145/pseuds/thecat_13145
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He doesn't tell anyone, but he still sees them</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ghosts

**Author's Note:**

>   
>  It's an entry for the October Challenge back in 2009 at [](http://community.livejournal.com/colby_don/profile)[**colby_don**](http://community.livejournal.com/colby_don/) (as the title suggests). At least half credit to my beta, Lady Merlin.

He’s never told anyone, but he still sees them.

He’s been shaken awake, spooked by the feeling of being watched, so many times that he was almost used to seeing Andy Rogers lying beside him, like a lover, head half missing. It’s almost so it wasn’t that surprising to see Mohammed, their Afghan guide, sitting drinking tea at the table at four in the morning. The key word is almost.

He knows about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, knows about hallucinations telling you about your subconscious and all that. He’s read all the books there are on Post-War Life, but none of them work. He’s sure no one else has ever been through this, sure that he’s losing his mind. It feels too real, to three-dimensional for a hallucination, but they are quiet, his ghosts. They never say a word, and somehow it’s worse. They’re just...

There.

At first, he doesn’t see Dwayne, and he tells himself that’s cause he has no reason to feel guilty about what happened. He did what he had to do and that’s the end of it. He knows it’s a lie, but it helps, until the sun goes down.

He doesn’t see Dwayne, until things start happening with Don.

Their first night together, he wakes up to see Dwayne standing there, at the foot of the bed. Don is thankfully asleep. This is still new, still fresh and amazing. He doesn’t want to taint the future with poison from the past. He doesn’t want to bring his ghosts into their bed. He doesn’t want to think about this.

Not now, not ever. Especially because Dwayne was more to him, as he is sure Don knows, in the weeks following the crash. Colby can’t be more grateful for Don’s silence. He’s a man who understands that what isn’t said is oft as important as what is said.

He’s glad when the call comes in that morning.

Dwayne never goes away, like the others. He’s there all the time. Even when he’s not in front of his eyes, Dwayne is there. He’s breathing over his shoulder, like he used to, and he’s watching. He’s these especially when Don’s around. Colby jokes that the worst type of ghost is a jealous one. No one laughs, because he never says it aloud.

Also unlike the others, Dwayne never gets close. He’s always in the distance. Somehow it is more worrying than the others, who got too close. Andy and Mohammed scared him, sure, but they never made him feel threatened. Dwayne does.

He’s convinced that he’s going to screw up the one good thing he’s managed to do with his life, until one night.

The case was bad. The guy was a physco and to make matters worse, he’d set up his finale for Halloween. Only Charlie’s maths saved them from a blood bath. No one felt like being alone, but equally no one wanted to be with each other. Megan and Larry and Charlie and Amita had made tracks fast.

David had vanished with a mutter about needing to look someone up. He and Don ended up at the apartment. Too tired and too freaked to do anything, they ended up in bed, just touching, but touching still. Don’s warm shoulder kept him sane then.

It’s midnight when he notices Dwayne.

As ever, he’s not doing anything, just standing by the foot of the bed. Then he realises that Dwayne’s not alone. There’s a woman standing beside him, watching them both. He’d only seen her a few times, but her face is burned in his mind.

Beside him, Don swears.

“You see them.” It’s a statement, not a question. Don nods.

“Yeah. All the time.”

“Why?”

Don shrugs. “Cause I killed her.”

Colby shook his head. “No. Can’t be the reason.”

“You got a better one?”

Colby shrugs, wearing a look almost identical to Don’s. “Keep an eye on us. Make sure we don’t forget.”

Don’s eyes rested on Crystal Hoyle. “Not a chance.”  
Fini


End file.
